Help! (insert cursing) old copper pipe is 1/32nd inch bigger than standard PEX

[casbc]

My husband is tearing his hair out trying to fix 3 leaks under kitchen sink in 76 Sovereign, probably busted when pipes froze.

New fittings won't attach to the copper. It's too wide, just a hair. The cursing is getting intense.

He bought PEX to replace long piece under the mid section bed, but can't hook them up.

Any suggestions? He's got his metal grinder out but thought I'd ask before somebody hurts themselves

[Kevin245]

Sounds like freeze related swelling. Remove affected copper and replace with pex. Sell the scrap copper and buy something fun for the trailer.

[Bill M.]

If the new copper fittings will not fit the old copper pipe then, like Kevin, would think that the copper is stretched from freezing. I like PEX and would replace all the copper I could get to with it.

[casbc]

yes, I like it!

but how to connect the PEX to the expanded copper that he can't get to?

Our AS is not a gut rehab - we're hoping to keep interior (in good condition).

A plumber friend dropped off some hardware today; hoping it works!

[Kevin245]

Originally Posted by casbc

yes, I like it!

but how to connect the PEX to the expanded copper that he can't get to?

Our AS is not a gut rehab - we're hoping to keep interior (in good condition).

A plumber friend dropped off some hardware today; hoping it works!

The water lines in our 1976 31' center bath Sovereign are accessible without removing interior components. Not all connections are easy to get too though. I am not sure about those with a rear bath layout that you have. Others with that layout may be able to offer some advice.

Hope things work out.

Kevin

[mimiandrews]

I was able to replace all the water lines in our '66 Safari with PEX without removing the interior, except for the easily-removable parts of the gauchos. It takes some crawling around and poking your head into places, but it can be done. It's almost always possible to push the PEX into the same hole the copper pipe came out of. Use a Dremel tool or the like to cut out the copper.

I used crimp fittings, so it took a lot of planning to get that last crimp located in a place where the crimping tool had room to work. The job is really mostly head scratchin'.

I don't regret a bit of it. The system has performed flawlessly for several years now.

For sure, draw a plan of your system before you tear out the copper. There will be a few places (ours was near the water pump) where you need to re-engineer a little. Copper will make a sharper corner than you can duplicate with PEX. Back to the head scratchin' part.

[Melody Ranch]

Shark Bite. I even keep some fittings extra for emergency repairs.

[gdanderson]

Airstream uses copper TUBING not copper PIPE, they are two different sizes. That freezing/expansion thing is a old wives tail that will not die.

Greg Anderson
Wisconsin

[amtruckn1]

Tubing is measured od and pipe is measured id.

[silver 67]

Replace copper with pex and use shark bite fittings.

[dscluchfc]

Shark bite fittings are the bombdiggity!


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[bellastream]

Definitely stretched copper I just had to fix several broken pipes just keep cutting off pipe further down the line until the shark bite fitting fits.

[Kevin245]

Originally Posted by gdanderson

Airstream uses copper TUBING not copper PIPE, they are two different sizes. That freezing/expansion thing is a old wives tail that will not die.

Greg Anderson
Wisconsin

Call it an old wives tale if your wish but copper tubing will swell under freezing conditions and not split . I've seen it multiple times, and I've replaced tubing as a result.

[gr.austin]

They do make a swaging tool to form the end of a copper tube round and to the proper diameter. Copper does come in a 1/2 diameter which approximately 1/2" ID but is is actually 5/8 OD. They also make 1/2" OD tubing which is actually 1/2" OD. You might find this tool at a commercial plumbing outlet like Graingers. Cost is about $25 for set of 4 sizes 1/4" - 5/8". All you need is a hammer to make them work. These tools allow you to make the tube round or shrink the tube 1 size or expand the tube 1 size. Good luck

[idroba]

As others have said, the pipe has been frozen and expanded to the point that no conventional fittings will fit the stretched pipe.

Other than a total re plumb job, you can go back to the closest soldered original fitting and unsolder the pipe from the fitting. The fitting will not have expanded. Then you can solder a short stub of new copper into the fitting, and from there use either Sharkbite type fittings and PEX pipe, or conventional crimp fittings and PEX pipe.

There is no other reasonable way to repair it.

[Bigventure]

A flaring block will squish the tube back down to size.

Splits are easy to fix with a soldering iron. Just squeeze the tube back together sand, flux and solder.

Shark bite are easy but very expensive.

[rideair]

It's called: Nylon Braided Hose (to size), two hose clamps on either end (real tight), leak fixed ;-)

I have trailers that were fixed that way over 10 years ago and still no leaks!

Enjoy,

[J. Morgan]

I was able to change out the copper for Pex in a 75 rear bath in about a day. I disassembled the top of the tub enclosure, the passenger side bed, and the bottom of the kitchen cabinet to get access. It wasn't too bad.

[WindyJim]

I'm in the same boat as casbc. We loaned out our '68 Airstream and the party we loaned it to didn't winterize it. Multiple ruptures, and with the stretched pipe I've been to every piping and tubing supply store I can find and none could come up with anything that would match the stretched diameters of the different pipe ruptures. I mic'd (micrometer) the diameters of the tubing, and it was stretched to some degree (and to all different degrees) everywhere I measured. I wanted to go the pex route, but without any matching diameters was pulling out both of my hairs too.

I will investigate the swagging tool referenced by gr.austin.

An Airstream dealer in Boise, ID did the initial repairs but did a crummy job with clear plastic tubing that ruptured almost right away. I checked with my local Airstream repair dealer and they confirmed that the copper tubing expands even in areas that didn't fail when the pipes freeze up.

[WindyJim]

Also to rideair, the patch where the Airstream dealer had diameters that allowed the use of nylon braided hose, the hose did hold up, but where they couldn't get a close enough diameter match they used clear plastic tubing and that failed almost right away.